Dental implement



NOV. 1, 1938. J D, w LHon' v 2,134,934

DENTAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 17, 1937 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 1, 1938 I IUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DENTAL IMPLEMENT Joseph D. Wilhoit,Louisville, Ky. I Application May 1'1, 1937, Serial No. 143,155

1 Claim. (Ci, 15-23) This invention relates to improvements in denducedcone-shaped member 2 l whose base cointal implements and moreparticularly to that cides with the small base of the frusto-conicalClass utilized for cleaning the teeth. body 20 and whose major axiscoincides with the It is well known, that particles of food become.major axis of said body 20. The outer periphery a firmly lodged betweenthe teeth and are not reof said body is provided witha plurality oflatmoved in an effective manner by the usual orally extending ep d1111611110618 t brushing operation until after disintegration. will benoted from Figs. 2-5 that the members lbis condition promotes decay ofthe teeth and m 8-11861 iiw t Cone-Shaped member M oftentimes pyorrheaand other month and gum are or oblique conicalshape and are inclinedtoit diseases. The lodging of particles of food is esw sa d member 2L Dut the a n of 1c pecially prevalent between the molars and bi u theirvertexes in a plane intersecting said mempids and usually at the neckthereof, ber 2i between the vertex and base thereof and One of theprincipal objects of my invention is Subgtantifilly normal t0 fi l 3X15,these to provide ans for effectively removing the parmembers will be inposition to contact the necks iii ticles of food lodged between theteetlrand at of the teethbn the es thereof abutting the the same timemassagin th gum ti marginal liiie of the gums, and clean and masroundingthe necks of the teeth, thus stimulat- 511%v t Sam W n t e Vertex ofember 2 is ing circulation with resultant healthy tissues. positionedbetween adjacent teeth perpendicular Another object of my invention i toprovide to the plane thereof and rotated. Due to the vermy means foreffectively removing the particles oi? e angles o these members beingSmaller an food lodged between the teeth and at the same a o member t ty will be resiliently detime polishing the teeth. formed in. a directionopposite to the direction Other objects and advantag ill b apparent of'rotation of member i'l, while the latter memfrom the followingdescription, appended claim her due to its greater vertex angle willresist deand annexed drawing. formation and will steady the rotarymovement 25 Referring to the drawing wherein like reference of the y 20about its major axischaracters designate like parts throughout the Fromt bov willbe seen at s' mpr ved several views: dental implement providestwo cleaning and mas- Fig, 1 is a. side elevation of my invention andsaging actions. One is tangential t0 the frontal 3@ illustrating themeans for operating the same. surfaces of e teeth, when the implement isex- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of. the tended alongside andin o t of the teeth betooth cleaning implements and associated parts.tween e latter and the proximate er Wa l of Fig. 3 is a, sectional vi wtak on a line 3.43 the mouth. This action isv generally similar in ofFig. 2. effect, to the up and down" motion employed Figs. 4 and 5 areside elevations of the tooth Withthe Ordinary tooth brush 35 cleaning1mp1ement. The other action is a rotary one in the plane Fig, 6 i amodified form of munting fo t of the teeth surfaces and by means ofwhich the t r, marginal line of the teeth and gums is cleaned Myinvention, in the prefe red embodiment of all foreign matter as well asmassaged by the 40 illustrated, comprises atooth cleaning implementoblique conical members 22 while the conical 40 m preferably constructedof em1 s ft 0r member 2| cleans the spaces between the teeth ientmaterial, such as rubber, formed with 9. Ionin its rotation If theimplement is Pdsitioned gitudinally extending metal core memb r The tooverlie the teeth at either side of the mouth, core member isfequippedwith laterally extendthe top surfaces of these teeth y be c aned ingflanges l2 for anchoring the same in posiand at the Same time, the uPortion p oj ct- 45 tion and is threaded at the outer end thereof to inga e t t sd 15 ay be ma form a detachable connection with a coupling sedby t e Oblique conical be s 22 in their l4 journaled in a hand-piece IS.The drive shaft o of a suitable electric motor I6 is provided with Asillustratedin Fig. 6, suction caps 40 are' a flexible shaft l1,connected to the coupling l4 secured to the motor for engagement with awall 50 and serves to rotate the implement l0. Screws or like supportinstead of the screws 19 illusl9 serve to secure the motor to a wall orlike trated in Fig. 1. p support. To effect a high degree of sanitation,the im- The tooth cleaning element comprises an elonplements. in caseswhere several persons desire to I gated, frusto-conical body Ill formedwith a reuse the same motor, are constructed of various 55 colors (asindicated in Figures 4 and 5) to readily identify them for individualuse.

It is to be understood that various changes and modifications inconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit oi theinvention or scope of the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

A resilient dental implement comprising an elongated, frusto-conicalbody formed with coneshaped, resilient side members and a similarshaped, resilient end member having a base 00- incident with the smallerbase of said body and a major axis coincident with the major axis ofsaid body, some of said side members formed on said body adjacent saidend member, said adjacent side members having a more acute vertex anglethan said end member and having an oblique-conical shape, inclinedtoward said end member and having vertexes located in a planeintersecting said end member and substantially normal to the major axisthereof, whereby upon rotation oi said body about its major axis, saidoblique-conical side members will be resiliently deformed in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of said body to eifect a cleaningof the necks oi the teeth on the faces thereof abutting the marginalline oi the gum and a massaging of the adjacent gum tissues, and saidconeshaped end member will be only imperceptibly deformed where itcontacts adjacent teeth to eiiectively clean the spaces therebetween andprovide a relatively stable rotational axis for said implement.

J OBEPH D, WILHOIT.

